Legal-blank-vending machine



J. O. DAVIS AND J. H. STICE.

LEGAL BLANK VENDING MACHINE.-

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 15, 1920.

Patented Feb. 28, 1922.

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LEGAL BLANK VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. I5. I920- 1, 7, Patented Feb. 28, 1922.

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LEGAL BLANK VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 15, 1920.

1 ,407,842, Patented Feb. 28, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- John 0.05175 Jesse H 6710 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFEQE.

JOHN O. DAVIS, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, AND JESSE H. S'IECE, OF TAMA,IOWA;

' SAID STIGE ASSIGNOR T0 SAID DAVIS.

LEGAL-BLANK-VENDING MACHINE.

menses.

Application filed December 15, 1920.

T 0 all 107mm it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN O. DAVIS and Jnssn H. S'rrcn, are citizens ofthe United States, residing, respectively, at Minneapo- ]is and Tama, inthe counties of Hennepin and Tama and States of Minnesota and Iowa, haveinvented certain new and use ful Improvements in Legal-Blank-VendingMachines; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention has for its object to provide an extremely simple andhighly efficient vending machine or device especially adapted for use inconnection with coinactuated mechanism, for delivering to the purchaser,one at a time, legal blanks or like paper sheets, and to such ends,generally stated, the invention consists of the novel devices,construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and. definedin the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the invention, likecharacters indicate. like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a. front elevation with some parts broken away and some partsin vertical transverse section Fig. 1 is a fragmentary enlarged sectionon the same line as the upper portion of Fig. 2, but illustrating aslightly modified construction;

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig.1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section;

Fig. 4f is a perspective showing one of the drawers with theco-operating devices carried thereby, removed from working posi tion;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary one of the drawers; and

Figs. 6 and 7 are details in section approximately on the line 6-4 ofFig. 3, the former showing the feed roller in. normal side elevation ofposition and the latter showing the samein the act of feeding ordelivering a blank.

So far as the broad idea of this invention is concerned, the machine ordevice may involve any desired number of units or sections, butpreferably, it will involve a plurality of such units or sections allincorporated into a common cabinet or casing and Specification ofLetters Patent.

Serial No. 430,942.

. partitions 10, but, of course, the cabinet may be provided with aplurality of such vertical rows of compartments.

Below the lower compartment 9, the cabinet is shown as provided with acoin compartmentll, into which the'coins may drop, as hereinafterdescribed, through large vertically aligned openings 12 in thepartitions 10 at oneside of the cabinet, (see Fig. 1). In front of therespective compartments 9, the front wall of the cabinet 8 is providedwith narrow horizontally extended blank delivery passages 13, and at itsrear, said cabinet is preferably provided with a large hinged door 8that may normally be held closed by a suitable look, not shown.

, Slidably seated within each compartment 9 and held against lateraldisplacement by guide cleats 1 1 on the horizontal partitions 10, aredrawers or flanged slides 15 preferably formed of sheet metal and leftopen or flangeless at their rear ends.

VJithin each drawer 15, is atable 16, preferably made of sheet metal andhaving up- Patented Feb. 28, 1922. 7

erably passed to afford a pivotal connection between the two. Thispivot, for an important reason to be hereinafter further considered, islocated rearward of the center of gravity of the table.

The legal-blanks, or like sheets y, are placed on the several pivotedtables, and the several different stacks thereof may be of differentkind or character.

Means is provided for yieldingly forcing downward the relatively lightrear end of each table 16; and as shown, this means consists of a coiledspring 18, a screw bolt 19 and a nut 20. The spring 18, at its lowerend, is anchored to the co-operating drawer 15 The bolt 19 is passedthrough an arm 21 secured to and projecting rearward from theco-operating table 16. The nut 20, works on top of said arm and isadjustable toqvary the tension of the spring 18.

The numeral 22 indicates a feed shaft journaled. in the side flanges ofthe table 15.

Cit

and overlying the front end portion of the pivoted table 16, the sideflanges of said table being notched so as to clear said shaft and at notime to engage said shaft. cured on each shaft, above the stack ofsheets or blanks y, are several, (as shown, three),

feed rollers 28 against which the forward portion of the top sheet orblank is pressed into f 'ictional contact by the spring 18. The rollers23 are preferably of metal and are provided with peripheral facing-s, ofrubber or similar material 24;, which extend less than completely aroundsaid rollers, leaving gaps that expose smooth and relatively slipperyportions of the rollers in contact with said upper sheet 1 when saidrollers are in normal position shown in Figs. 1 and 6.

Secured on the front of each. drawer 15 is a so-called throat piece :25,which has a forwardly convergingthroat passage 2-6, the lower surface ofwhich is covered with an inclined deflector 27, of rubber or similarmaterial, that will have a frictional retarding action on the sheets fedagainst the same.-

Theeontracted outer portions of the threats 26 align with the deliverypassages 13 and with passages in the front flange of the respectivedrawers. This exact relation of these parts Wlll be more fully noted inthe description of the operation. I

Advlsably, a money drawer is placed in the lowermost or moneycompartment 11.

The feed shafts 22, at one end, are threaded and detachablyengageablewith the in-.

ternally threaded ends of stub shafts 2-8 that are slidably journaled inbearing plates 29 secured on one side of the cabinet or main casing 8.At their outer ends, the stub shafts 28 have operating knobs 80. V

For controlling the delivery of the blanks or sheets to the purchasers,any suitable coin mechanism may be employed, but for convenience, wehave illustrated a coin mechanism which is the sole invention of JesseH.

Stice, one of the applicants herein, and which coin mechanism, brieflydescribed, is as follows: The numeral 31 indicates a ratchet wheelsecured to each feed shaft adjacent to its threaded end and preventedfrom backward rotation by a retaining dog 32 pivoted 22 in the directionof the arrow marked on Fig. 5. The short ends of said several locklevers 33 stand slightly under co-operating coin chutes 36 that aresecured to and extend through the front plate of the cabinet 8. G11 eachratchet wheel 31 is a stop pin 37 that normally closely overlies thelong end of the co-operating lock lever 33. The

numeral 38 indicates cam strips secured to the inner surfaces-of thesides of the cabinet 8 and serving to press the front ends of thedrawers down to position, when the drawers are inserted to workingpositions. The character a, Fig. 2, indicates a coin.

Operation. The operation o'fqthe device described,

briefly summarized, is substantially as fol- I stretched and put undergreater tension,

than when there are but a few of such sheets .on a table; However,in'view of the fact that the pivot'17, which supports the table,

is rearward of the'center of gravity, it is evident that the greater thenumber of leaves or sheets g on the table, the greater Will be theexcess of weight of the leaves leaves or blank sheets willexactly orapproximately offset the increased tension of the spring due to downwardmovement of the front and upward movement of the rear end of the table.Hence, regardless of thenumber of leaves orblanks on the table,

the pressure of the top leaf against the feed rollers will always. beapproximately the same. This is important, because the pressure shouldbe so adjusted that the rubber orfr ict'ional facings on the rollerswill, properly feed, off the top sheetjcr blank without moving the sheetor blank next to the top, and this requires quite fine adjust ment,which shouldbe maintained under all r the conditions under which thesheets or blanks must be fed.

Normally, the feed shaft 22 and feed rollers 23 are locked, so thattheycannot be rotated, by the engagement of the hook-like end, of the locklever with the lock lug 35 of the ratchet wheel 31., and hence,normally, no feeding movement of the blanks can be produced.

When the proper coin a is deposited in the chute 36, it will fallonto'and be intercepted by the shortend of the lock lever 38 andwill-lift the long end of said lock lever against the pin 37, therebyreleasing the lug 35 and permitting the ratchet wheel 31, feed shaft 32and feed rollers 33 to be given one complete rotation whereupon saidlock lever will again lock saidshaft and said rollers.

Vihcn the ratchet wheel. and, said shaft j are rotated, as justdescribed, the coin will out of the chute and into the coin :box llfFig.2, at the top section, illustratesthe fact that the top sheetisalways in linefor projection directly against :the upper portion ofthe inclined frictional retarding surface 27.

The above noted rotation ofithe feed shaft and its feed rollerswill-feed the top sheet or blank out through the throatpassage26 and thedelivery passage 13, substantially to the position shown atthe top in.Fig. 2, so that'said sheet may then be engaged by a finger and thumband readily pulledcompletely out of the cabinet. In this latter notedpulling action of the sheet or blank, it is important to note that it ispulled agz-iinst the smooth portions of the underlying feed rollers 23.

With the arrangement described, it is evident that any one of theseveral so-called drawers, with the mechanism applied thereto, may bereadily removed, for the purpose of applying-a new supply of blankstherein and then may be readily replaced. As before indicated, the stubshafts 28 must be unscrewed from the co-operating feed shafts 22, beforethe drawers may be removed, as above described.

In Fig. 1, the partitions 10 are set obliquely inclining forward towardthe discharge throats 26. This positions the sheets 7 at a very steepangle and is highly important because itcauses the sheets to lie loose,as distinguished from compact or tightly pressed together. In practice,it has been found that, by thus supporting the sheets, the tendency ofthe sheets to stick together and to feed out two or more at a time isvery greatly lessened and, in fact, almost entirely overcome. hen thesheets are tightly pressed together, they will frequently be caused tostick or adhere, probably partly by friction, partly by partial vacuumand partly by static electricity. Moreover, the sheets inclined towardthe delivery throat will feed off from the top of the stack more easilythan where the sheets are located horizontally or nearly so.

This invention, as is evident, affords an extremely simple and eflicientvending mechanism for legal blanks and various other papers or likesheets.

It will, of course, be understood that this mechanism is capable ofmodification within the scope of our invention, as herein described.

What we claim is:

1. A vending machine comprising an enclosing case, a. tiltingsheet-supporting table removable into and out of said case, a feedroller overlying one end of said table and against which sheets on saidtable are arranged to be pressed, and means for locking and releasingsaid feed roller.

2. A vending machine comprising an ens closing case, a drawer in saidcase, a sheetsupporting table movably mounted within said drawer, a feed:roller overlying one end of said table andagainst which sheets on saidtable are arranged to be pressed, and means for locking and releasingsaid feed -roller,'said case having an elongated delivery passagethrough which the sheets are adapted to be fed, one at a time.

3. A vending machine comprisingan enclosing-case, adrawer in said case,a sheetsupporting table pivotedto said drawer, a

feed roller overlying one end of said tableand against which sheets onsaid table are arranged to be pressed, means for locking and releasingsaid feed roller, and means operative on the table for yieldinglypressing the top sheetagainst the roller.

4. A vending machine comprising anenclosing case, a tiltingsheet-supporting table movable into andxoutofsaid G3S,'t feed rolleroverlying one end of said table and against which sheets on said tableare arranged to be pressed, means for locking and releasing said feedroller, and a roller-operating element exposed at the exterior of saidcase and detachably connected to said feed roller.

5. A vending machine comprising an enclosing case, a sheet-supportingtable pivotally mounted within said case, a feed roller overlying oneend of said table and against which sheets on said table are arranged tobe pressed, and means for locking and releasing said feed roller, saidfeed roller having a smooth segmental peripheral friction surface formedwith a gap that normally presents the smooth portion of said rolleragainst the top sheet on said table.

6. A vending machine comprising an enclosing case, a drawer removablymounted in said case, a feed table movably mounted in said drawer, afeed roller journaled to said drawer and overlying the front portion ofsaid table, and a spring connecting said table to said drawer foryieldingly pressing the front portion of the top sheet against said feedroller, said case having a delivery passage through. which the sheetsare adapted to be fed, one at a time.

7. A vending machine comprising an enclosed case, a drawer in said case,a sheet supporting table intermediately pivoted to said drawer, a feedroller overlying one end of said table and against which sheets on saidtable are arranged to be pressed, means for locking and releasing saidfeed roller, and means operative on the table for yieldingly pressingthe top sheet against the roller.

8. In a vending machine, the combination with an enclosing case, of adrawer movably mounted therein, a feed table supported from said drawerby an intermediate pivot located rearward of its center of gravity, 2.

leed roller overlying the front portion of said table, and a tensionspring connecting the rear portions of said table and drawer andoperative to press the front portion of the top sheet on said tableagainst said feed roller, said case having an elongated delivery passagethrough which the sheets from said table are adapted to be fed, one at atime. a

9. The combination with a case having a plurality of vertically spacedcompartments, d awers independently mounted in the several compartments,sheet-supporting feed tables in the several drawers, independentlyoperative feed rollers overlying the several feed tables, meansoperative on said tables for independently pressing the top sheetscontained thereon against the cot-operating feed rollers, said'casehaving delivery passages through which the sheets from the several feedtables are adapted to be fed, one at a time, roller-operating devicesexposed at the exterior of said case and independ ently detachablyconnected to the respective I JOHN o. Davis, JESSE H. STICE.

